


Best and Worst

by wynnebat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Temporary Character Death, M/M, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 15:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3733726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Harry sees his soulmate, his soulmate shoots a Crucio at him. </p><p>The first time Draco sees his soulmate, his soulmate dies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Every child on Privet Drive, Surrey Place, England knew three essential things: the earth revolves around the sun (courtesy of Mrs. D, retired physics teacher and still avid educator), ice cream tastes best after a long afternoon of play, and everyone has a soulmate out there in the very big world. Of course, the precocious few of the lot knew a few more things (the average weather for each part of summer, as Bobby will no doubt be happy to tell you), and the less precocious but no less adorable hold the same belief. Facts for children follow little logic: the sun sets because it does, grandmum prays because she should, and the Dursley family is the most abnormal of the block, presumably because of Harry Potter.

Because they were children, they also knew (usually absorbed from the world around them, though some parents did try to explain something unexplainable) that something _magical_ would happen on their seventh birthday. Something utterly amazing: they would receive a vision, like a video inside their heads, of best moment of their soulmate's life. They didn't spend too much time thinking about it, because really, even if soulmates were supposedly devoid of cooties, romance was still pretty gross.

One child on the block knew little of the other families' standards of normal, growing up alone and sheltered, but he did know some things the other children of privet drive knew nothing of: sometimes, if you wished hard enough, things happened. It wasn't magic, of course. Magic wasn't real, first of all, and second of all, if it were, he would be happily living anywhere other than his cupboard.

But as his seventh birthday grew near, Harry stayed up and thought about his soulmate. He wasn't quite sure what a soulmate was—his aunt and uncle were less than accepting of "unfounded voodoo," as they called it—but Harry was sure that his soulmate was going to be the one person who'd truly understand him. Unlike the Dursleys or the other children, he wouldn't believe Dudley's lies. He wondered what his soulmate's best moment would be. For some lucky people, it was the day their soulmate met them. For others, it was their soulmate's wedding, or graduation, or another happy thing.

When the clock struck twelve, Harry's body fell onto his bed while his mind dove into the future. Eventually everything stopped spinning, and Harry found himself in a bathroom, standing next to someone he guessed was his older self. He was a teenager with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, and Harry was confused until he saw the other person in the room. He was the older Harry's age, blonde, dressed in the same baggy black dress as the older Harry, and had a wooden stick pointed straight at him. And then he spoke a strange word, and both Harry's made the same expression of pain.

It _hurt_. It hurt even when the vision stopped and he came to himself. Harry huddled into himself, phantom pain still running through his body, and decided he really didn't like his soulmate. How could he, if hurting Harry was the best moment of his soulmate's life?

The only time Harry ever spoke about the blonde boy was to Hagrid, and when Hagrid replied with, "That's yer soulmate! But you shouldn't be talking about this with me, you know. You get to know the worst moment of your soulmate's life for a reason, so that when you two meet, there's no secrets."

Harry nodded, and wasn't comforted when Hagrid talked about the worst day of his own soulmate's life, which was when her dog died right in front of her. At least Hagrid's soulmate wasn't a blonde boy who'd curse him terribly one day. Even if cursing Harry was going to be the worst moment of his soulmate's life, he was still going to do it. Visions couldn't be altered.

Sometimes, Harry really would've rather been a muggle, and seen the best of his soulmate instead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Draco sees his soulmate, his soulmate dies. It doesn't get much better from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For FlyingDoe, since they asked for Draco's vision :)

The first time Draco sees his soulmate, his soulmate dies. It doesn't get much better from there.

Unlike Harry, Draco knows exactly what will happen the night he turns seven years old. He's been prepared for it for months, impatiently waiting for the moment to finally see what his future will hold. Even if it won't be a good one.

 _Harry Potter,_ Draco thinks, when the vision first begins to unfold. The teen he sees is older than he is, by ten years or so, and wearing worn muggle clothing. But the scar on his forehead is instantly recognizable. A fierce pride grows in Draco's chest. _My soulmate is Harry Potter._ It's only right, for he is a Malfoy, but he'd never even dreamed the hero of the wizarding world would enter his vision.

Draco looks around. There's a dark-looking forest nearby, some kind of hut, some people walking around looking hurt, and—that's Hogwarts, he thinks. He's never seen Hogwarts in person, but there's only so many castles in the world, and it looks just like the one in the background of Minerva McGonagall's Chocolate Frog card. By the time Draco turns back to Harry, the teen has already turned around and started walking into the forest.

"Wait up!" Draco calls after him. He catches up easily. Harry's strides are longer than his, but his soulmate isn't hurrying. Instead, he's almost dragging his feet, like Draco does when his mum is going to make him wear fancy robes.

Draco hurries until he's in front of Harry so that he can look at his face. There's not much to see. Harry's expression hasn't changed. He's just grim-looking and determined. He doesn't look like he's about to break out in tears. Is this really the worst moment of his soulmate's life? Just walking into a forest?

Draco looks around twice, but there's no werewolves lurking behind any trees. Maybe Harry's scared of the dark. Greg's scared of it, too. If Harry wants, Draco could hold his hand just as he did Greg's when they'd had their first sleepover. It would have to be once they actually meet. Draco's not really here right now. He can't change things, his parents have said. Visions can't be affected or changed; they just are.

Eventually, Draco begins to hear voices through a copse of trees. It's about time, he thinks, a bit grumpily.

"It seems I was mistaken," someone says, the voice odd, like a snake's crossed with a lion's.

Harry's steps don't falter as he steps into the clearing. His voice is strong as he says, "You weren't."

Unlike him, Draco all but plasters himself to a tree.

"They can't see me," he whispers. "They can't."

No one pays even a little attention to him, not even the terrifying man with no nose or the woman who looks as crazy as her hair standing next to him. There's a group of adults, all looking terrible and mean like no one Draco's ever seen. Adults so far have been either nice or annoying, but never scary, not like them.

Draco almost convinces himself to step closer when the tall, deathly pale leader of the group slowly pulls out his wand.

Harry—Harry doesn't.

"Do something!" Draco yells, running toward him. "What are you waiting for?"

He's a meter away when the evil man says, " _Avada Kedavra_ ," and a green light shines from his wand. It hits Harry in the chest.

In the next moment, Draco wakes up with a sob and Harry's name on his lips. He's in his own bedroom in the Malfoy manor. And he's shaking. The vision couldn't hold anymore because Harry wasn't around to have a worst memory. Harry was gone. Dead.

"Blinky?" Draco says, just to make sure someone can hear him now. He's a real person now, not a dream person, but it had been so bad…

The elf arrives with a pop. "Yes, Master Draco?"

"Get me some warm milk."

Even under the blankets, he still feels cold and scared.

.

Draco sleeps in that morning. Usually, he wakes up even before his parents, but it's almost eleven when he opens his eyes. He still feels a little shaky, but better than before. His soulmate is going to die young. That's something he can't change. He can still know him for a couple years, though. It'll have to be enough.

His parents await him at the breakfast table.

"Is there anything we should know?" his mother asks, her voice solemn.

Soulmates aren't a secret, exactly. But they're private, intensely so, and Draco's more uncomfortable now than he's ever been, even when Minister Fudge tried to shake his hands with his overlarge, clammy ones. He understands now why his parents always refused to tell him about their own visions. Soulmates are one another's perfect fits, but he feels so bare at the thought. Somewhere out there is a boy who now knows Draco's worst future.

There's worry in his parents' eyes. Sometimes, the universe isn't fair. In his father's tales are men who see themselves killed in their vision, women who see themselves hurt, and heartbreak so terrible that Draco doesn't really understand. He's never been in love. Oh, he loves his parents—how can't he, when they love him so fiercely?—and he enjoys the company of his friends, but he's seven years old. Love is foreign to him.

For the first time in years, Draco just wants to hug his mum, because even if he doesn't know much about love, he knows a bit, now. He knows what it's like to watch his soulmate die.

Instead, he buttons up all the social graces he's been able to learn, sits down across from his parents, and says, "It's not Pansy. The universe has been very kind to me."

His father coughs. "I'm sure she'll be very disappointed."

"Very right," Draco says, buttering his toast. He ignores the way his parents leave room for him to speak, if he so wishes. He doesn't wish to. He wants to forget the vision ever existed.


	3. Chapter 3

In the real world, the first time Draco sees his soulmate is in Madam Malkin's robe shop. Draco turns to him, wanting to talk and be a little less bored, but the words fall out of his head once he sees him. Harry's much younger this time, but he knows him like no one else.

And when Harry sees Draco, he shoves some money at the seamstress, grabs his new robes, and escapes before Draco can catch him.

He's left yelling after this Harry, too.

Harry doesn't say a word to him throughout the entire encounter. It figures, really.

Draco's vision was one of sacrifice, though for what he doesn't know; Harry's was one of something done in anger, Draco thinks. He doesn't know what he did. He won't know, not until the moment.

.

On the train to Hogwarts, Draco finds him again.

"You'll be coming with me," Draco tells him. "We've got a lot to discuss."

And this time, Harry can't run away.

But he can refuse him, saying, "I'll stay with Ron," and choosing a Weasley over his soulmate.

That one stings.

.

It's only natural that Draco starts insulting him. It seems to be what Harry expects; he always looks at Draco like he's waiting for something. He's always looking ahead, not at him, never at him. It gets more out of him than anything else Draco's tried.

 _Merlin_. That's his soulmate right there, and if his soulmate doesn't give a damn about him, then Draco doesn't, either.

He's so angry, at Harry, at fate, at everything, and it feels good to at least let some of it out. What does it even matter, when Harry's going to be a martyr in a couple years, anyway.

.

He doesn't intend to fall in love.

Harry has no business being clever, witty, amusing. He's not supposed to whisper sweet nothings to his owl while Draco watches, his heart clenching just a little. He's not supposed to be brave and face every horror that comes to Hogwarts straight on, like it's his responsibility to fix everything. He's a bit of a jerk, too, but Draco doesn't expect to like someone who can give as good as he gets.

Even Pansy gets over her crush on him, with a roll of her eyes and a, "I'm never going to get as much of your attention as Potter."

.

When the Dark Lord knocks, Draco joins him. There's no other choice. Except, maybe, Harry, but despite the tension between them, despite the bond, they've never had a civil conversation.

Harry has no right to look at him with betrayal, to corner him in an abandoned hallway and accuse him of everything under the sun.

"I thought you were better than this," Harry says, fists clenched around Draco's robes, pushing him against a cold castle wall.

Draco wants to smirk at him, to say, _I'm really, really not_. He wants to keep his pride. Instead, he looks at the boy who became a man who no longer fears him, who looks at him with a steady gaze, and says, "There's nothing you won't do for your family, right? Throwing yourself in the Chamber of Secrets, facing down werewolves, kicking around dementors. Are you really blaming me for doing the same?"

Harry's hands gentle, until Draco's nearly loose, not quite rammed against the wall anymore. But that's not where he wants to be. Merlin, he just wants to lean in and kiss the maddening man in front of him, but he doubts Harry will accept it.

"Alright," Harry says. "Alright. Can you— I don't trust Snape, but can you at least work with him? Just— don't be alone."

And Harry's looking at him with a torn, tired sort of earnestness, and Draco can't do anything but say yes.

.

Katie Bell.

 _Crucio_.

 _Sectumsempra_.

Dumbledore.

It's not like they had a chance in hell, anyway.

.

They don't see each other for nearly a year, until a battle comes to Hogwarts. Draco's been apprenticed under Snape, who shelters him more than Draco probably deserves. Draco doesn't understand Snape, not really, not at all, but he's grateful to him. And when fighting breaks out, Draco makes his way into the castle from the dungeons and is paralyzed with a sudden, awful indecision.

He won't leave with the younger kids; maybe years ago, months ago, he might've, but there's no room for a coward in war. That choice only leads to another, a much more weighty one.

If this battle doesn't decide the war, the Dark Lord will feed him to his snake for his betrayal.

Draco grits his teeth and resolved to make it the last time he has to take up arms. This time, it has to be the end.

(And it will be, one way or another.)

He shoots a blasting curse at Dolohov.

.

Draco's never been able to change Harry's mind, not on the big things. Not when it comes to saving people. It's useless, but he tries anyway. He follows Harry to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, wanting to curse him and kiss him and stun him, if only to keep him safe. Harry would never forgive him.

He yells. Harry yells back.

It's desperate, angry, and so very awful. It's the last time Draco's going to see him alive. He thinks he'll punch him, have this stupid man carry a bruise into the afterlife. He kisses him instead. It hurts more.

"Thought you were too good for this," Harry says in between two kisses.

"Maybe I just wanted you to catch up." There's a sob caught in Draco's throat, and maybe Harry knows, because he kisses him so gently, like Draco's the one who's going to die.

"You scared, Potter?" Draco asks, his voice soft, his breathing heavy.

Harry nods.

"Don't be." Draco taps his temple. "I've seen it."

"Faster and easier than falling asleep," Harry says, like he's quoting someone. "Dumbledore."

"Maybe he can be right, just this once," Draco agrees. Merlin, he'd agree with anyone right now if Harry didn't have to suffer.

Harry is the first to let go. Draco hates him for it, but it's a fleeting sort of hate. He apparates away, because there's no use anymore. He can't alter Harry's plans. And he can't do anything about his own fate, because with Harry dead, the Dark Lord wins. And traitors like Draco will soon follow.

Draco lets himself have one comfort: in the afterlife, maybe he and Harry will actually find a way to fall in love, in an easy sort of way, instead of the thing that burns between them now. (Not them. Just him.)

He finds Madam Pomfrey and lets her put him to work. He's better at potions than love, anyway.

.

Harry opens his eyes.

Later, Draco will remember him giving a speech and killing the Dark Lord, but at the moment that's not what matters.

What matters is this: Harry, alive, and making his way through the crowd until there's no space between them at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Complete; no sequel planned.


End file.
